


Truth Vision

by Miasmajesty1



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dragon Who, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-27
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-01 14:21:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 14,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4023115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miasmajesty1/pseuds/Miasmajesty1
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor and his companions fend off an alien invasion that threatens to unveil every lie ever told.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is an offshoot from my favourite AU, [Dragon Who.](http://laurelhach.tumblr.com/dragon_who) Essentially everything is the same only Gallifreyans naturally look like dragons. It has my mind and heart.  
> Ten looks like [this.](http://40.media.tumblr.com/5f7017522e88fd3e7a6b356f03530d01/tumblr_nbe4hdehNF1ryfpsio1_r1_1280.jpg)  
> 

They'd barely gotten through the TARDIS door before the phone rung. Donna leant against one of the supporting poles, struggling for breath. "You've got to be kidding," she panted. The Doctor, nearly as winded, shrugged as he walked forward.  
"No rest for the wicked!" he said, though it lacked real enthusiasm. Their trip hadn't exactly gone to plan. Not that any of trips ever went to plan, the Doctor mused, but this one had gone especially not to plan. He'd promised a nice visit to the floating city of Ahasass; all relaxation, no running. It hadn't panned out. He picked up the ringing phone.  
"Hello?" he said, leaning forward on the TARDIS console.  
Donna stretched out her arms and legs, rolling her neck and let out a long sigh. Travelling with the Doctor was exciting- maybe too exciting sometimes. She glanced up, ready to retort about how he broke his promise of a relaxing trip, then the words died on her lips. His brow was furrowed, and he nodded as he held the phone. "You're sure? You've tried all the frequencies?" he asks, still frowning. Whatever the answer was, it wasn't the one he wanted. "No, you're right. I'll be there right away. The Tower? Okay," he said, and put the phone down. The Doctor sucked in his breath and ran one hand through his hair; Donna rolled her eyes at the familiar gesture; before walking towards him. "Well, looks like Earth has visitors," he said.  
"Bad ones?" she asked.  
"Not sure yet," the Doctor said with a tilt of his head. "They won't respond to any hailing signals." He turned around on his heel and paced around the console, flicking dials up and clicking buttons. "Which means either they don't care what you've got to say, or that they can't get to the signal, or that they've been hijacked, or they're going to-"  
"I get it, we're in trouble. Any idea who it could be? They mostly seem to sneak in first then announce their presence later," Donna interrupted. The TARDIS hummed as she took herself from Ahasass and moved to Earth.  
"If they were Daleks, Jack would have rung me first. Same if they were Cybermen. Ice Warriors? No, they wouldn't," the Doctor said. "I'll have to see the ship myself," he concluded. There was a soft thud as the TARDIS landed.  
"Well let's go see then," Donna replied, steeling herself as she walked out of the TARDIS doors, the Doctor following behind her.

The atmosphere was rife with tension, though an untrained eye would see only order. UNIT personal stood rigid at their stations, their breathing controlled but fear still gnawing at their insides. Alien invasions weren't rare anymore but they were always terrifying. Donna scanned the room for any familiar faces. There. At the top of a platform where the main screen showed a spaceship Donna didn't recognise stood two familiar faces. The Doctor stood just behind her, leaning around her to look around the building.  
"Ah!" he exclaimed; Donna flinched, that was way too close to her ear; and he shot forward to greet them. Donna smiled to herself and joined him.  
"Martha, Jack, nice to see you!" he said excitedly. The pair turned from the screen, obviously too focused to have noticed the Doctor and Donna's entrance. To their joint surprise the Doctor wrapped them both in a hug before they could get a word out. Donna was equally surprised and laughed.  
"Nice group hug before we get invaded huh?" Donna said, snorting. The Doctor moved his arm to include her. "What, I can't say hello to my friends?" he said with a grin. Martha laughed.  
"You're overcompensating," she said.  
"Well I for one am I okay with it," Jack responded, nudging Martha with his elbow. The Doctor retracted his embrace and stepped back.  
"You ruined it," Donna noted, smiling at Jack. He shot back a brilliant grin. "You two alright then? Minus the alien invasion," Donna asked, glancing at them both. Unlike the rest of the UNIT staff, they were more composed, though both still afforded nervous glances at the screen. The Doctor and Donna looked at the screen too. The Doctor hummed, reaching into his pocket and removing his glasses from them as he stepped towards the screen. The spaceship was almost delicate in nature; the shape resembling that of a motorboat, with long wings curving towards the stern. On the screen, there seemed to be glowing lines etched along the sides. The Doctor hummed again, frowning at the screen.  
"You know what is?" Martha asked, her expression serious.  
"Yeah, I know. It's a Parauviu ship. They're uh," he paused. Turning away from the screen, he continued; "they're templars, essentially. They seek out civilizations that they think are liars and they make them.." he paused again, searching for the right word.  
"Not be liars?" Donna supplied. The Doctor didn't laugh.  
"They make everyone see the truth," he said gravely.  
"That sounds.. invasive," Jack said.  
"It is. They've clairvoyant you see, they can see the truth," the Doctor replied. "That's fine, and it used to be fine, but they've gotten intense recently," he added. "They never used to be like this," he murmured, seemingly put off. "Fortunately, they're going to have to check everyone individually to see if they're liars. Which is pretty inconvenient for them, but good for us," he concluded.  
"How exactly are they going to make us see the truth? They going to spill all of our deepest darkest secrets?" Martha asked.  
"Well," the Doctor said. "Kind of."  
"Kind of?" Donna asked. "Oh, never mind that, are they going to attack us?" she added, annoyed.  
"No, no, they won't. Their leader needs to talk to the human race first," the Doctor said. Martha and Jack looked relieved, and Jack's hand went to his earpiece. He walked a few paces away, relaying this information to Torchwood. "So don't shoot at them!" the Doctor yelled after him, "I might be able to talk them down!"  
"Might?" Donna said quietly, looking at him from the side.  
"If they'll listen to reason then I can ask them to leave, but the human race is full of deceit," the Doctor said, shrugging slightly. Donna frowned at him. "You know what I mean. People lie to protect themselves or others. I can see the honestly too and all the good, but I can't guarantee that they will. It doesn't matter about the why to the Parauviu, only the action matters," he explained, gesturing at the screen. "I can't exactly hide the fact that humans lie," he added.  
Beyond the screen, Martha gestured to the UNIT personnel, telling them to keep calm and to keep alert. They seemed relieved that there was to be no firefight, but their faces betrayed the worry at being judged by an alien race.  
"So, we're all going to air our dirty laundry in public then," Donna said, a sly grin on her face. She nudged the Doctor with her elbow. "Better fess up now," she said, winking. He snorted. "I'll be alright thanks. You better warn your Granddad though, even if it's just to tell him that there's aliens around," he replied, smiling.  
"You're right," Donna said. "I can take the TARDIS to him," she said as she strolled back towards the TARDIS. The Doctor was stunned into shock for a few seconds.  
"Uh Donna, I know you flew her before but-"  
"I can't hear you from over here!"  
"Donna please-"  
"I'll be fine," Donna said as she got to the TARDIS door. The Doctor sighed, resigned in the knowledge that he couldn't talk her out of it. Besides, she was able to fly the TARDIS, and TARDIS liked her enough to essentially fly herself if the need arose.  
"Tell Wilf I said hello," he said.  
"Will do!" Donna yelled as she shut the TARDIS door.  
Donna strolled through the TARDIS, smiling to herself. "Hey, I'm going to fly to see my Granddad and warn him about these aliens. You'll help me out right?" she said, coming to a stop at the console. "Still feels weird to talk to a machine though. Anyway," Donna searched for the biggest lever. "Let's do this."

"Granddad, you home?" Donna yelled, leaning out of the TARDIS from where it had landed in the kitchen. The flight had gone better than she'd expected. With the Doctor's instruction she was forced to improvise but considering how he normally flew her, she wondered if he was always improvising. She made a mental note to ask him later.  
"Donna, that you?" Wilf yelled.  
"Yeah, I'm in the kitchen," Donna yelled back. She stepped out of the TARDIS and glanced around the room. The TV was on and playing a soap of some kind. A cup of tea stood half full on the end table, and a bowl of fruit sat on the kitchen-top. Donna noticed that the fruit was past it's best and absent mindedly threw it away.  
"You throwing away my food girl?" Wilf said. Donna swiveled around and smiled. The two embraced. "I hope you're not actually eating these," Donna reprimanded.  
"Nah, not really," Wilf said. He turned to look at the TARDIS, eyes practically glittering. He glanced inside, then realisation crossed his face and he turned to face Donna again.  
"Wait, if the Doctor isn't with you right now then.." he trailed off.  
"Did I fly her? Yeah, I did," Donna said, standing up straighter. Wilf laughed, disbelieving.  
"You flew a spaceship.. It shouldn't surprise me, considering how you travel out there anyway," Wilf said, "But you flew a spaceship!" he exclaimed.  
"I know! I always thought it was weird how the Doctor talks to her but she's definitely alive, you can tell," Donna said, glancing at the TARDIS. Wilf looked too, impressed by the feat. "Anyway, I came here to say that there's a spaceship heading for earth. It's not awful, they're not like the Daleks or anything, but be careful and stay inside because we don't really know what they'll do," Donna said, looking Wilf in the eye. "And turn on the TV, too. I'd come get you if things heat up but it might be safer here," Donna added.  
"Okay love, I'll keep an eye out. You be safe too," Wilf said after considering what Donna had said. "Do you know what they're after?" he asked.  
"Sort of. They weed out liars or something, the Doctor said they show people the truth," Donna said, gesturing at she spoke. "I think he probably knows exactly what happens afterwards but he hasn't said."  
Wilf frowned and glanced at the ground before walking back towards the TV. He reached for the remote and changed the channel to the news. The news was showing images of the spaceship, then back to the reporter. It was the usual- stay inside, stay calm, but with no real information.  
"Everyone's almost used to it these days," Wilf murmured.  
"It'll be alright," Donna said automatically. She wasn't sure how much she believed that. Everything would probably be resolved eventually, but the question was how many people got caught in the crossfire before that resolution.  
"I hope you and the Doctor have been truthful with each other," Wilf said, turning to Donna. "I mean, I trust the man, but still," Wilf said. Donna frowned slightly.  
"We're alright," she said. She trusted the Doctor, almost absolutely, but she couldn't say for sure that there weren't some lies between them. Lies were normal, even between best friends. To protect one another. At least, that's what Donna tried to convince herself was true. Lying about feelings because it was easier than dealing with them, mostly. Still, if they were being judged on them..  
"I better go," she said absent-mindedly, turning to go back to the TARDIS.  
"Be safe," Wilf repeated as she walked away.  
"I will be. Love you," Donna called out as she closed the door to the TARDIS.  
"Love you too," Wilf said, watching as the TARDIS hummed and dematerialised, leaving Wilf behind with the buzz of the TV warnings.

The Doctor looked up from the work station he was leant over when the TARDIS rematerialised in the UNIT Tower base.  
"Ah Donna, welcome back!" he yelled before turning back to what he was doing. Jack walked up to meet Donna.  
"How's your Granddad?" he asked.  
"Alright, considering," she said, smiling. "How's your team doing?" Donna asked. Jack's expression faltered for a second. Donna put her hand up to stop him. "It's alright, you don't have to lie to me, or even say anything. Forget I asked," she said, smiling apologetically.  
Jack shifted his shoulders. "They're okay, what's left of them," he said. The usual bright demeanour had faded slightly, and Donna noticed the fatigue on his face. She opened her mouth to say more when the sharp burst of static pierced the room. Donna winced and covered her ears.  
"What the hell was that!" she yelled.  
"Pretty sure that was them trying to match our signal," Martha supplied, face grim. "They're not doing the best job at it," she added. The Doctor chuckled.  
"No, they're not. Which is odd. I wonder if their equipment has been damaged somehow. They should be able to talk to us just fine," he said, glancing at Martha.  
"If they were attacked, do you think whatever attacked them will follow them here?" she asked, concerned.  
"I doubt it. If they were being attacked they wouldn't come here, and besides," the Doctor got up and walked over to Donna and Jack, "I didn't see any other ships nearby on the TARDIS' radar. Unless there was a new one?" he asked, looking at Donna. Donna shook her head in response.  
"Nope, just the floaty one," she said.  
"Speaking of, they're getting pretty close," Jack interjected, nodding towards the main screen. The distance counting down grew ever lower.  
"Short signal range now," Martha said, scanning the screen. "Opening all channels of communication," she said, reaching over and tapping on the screen. The personnel at their desks mirrored her actions, faces tense.  
"Might be able to get through to us now," the Doctor murmured to himself. He bounced on the balls of his feet.  
"Excited?" Jack asked, amused. The Doctor looked at him and raised his eyebrows.  
"Nah, 'course not," he said, smirking. Jack snorted, disbelieving, and Donna shook her head. Martha looked up at them and rolled her eyes but couldn't hide a small smile.  
"Get ready," she said, walking up to join them at the top of the platform.  
There was another wail of static, and then a fuzzy signal flashed into life on the side of the screen. Martha reached over to the console and typed a command. The fuzzy picture expanded and covered the majority of the screen. She took in a deep breath and her expression turned to one of neutrality. Donna felt her palms sweat as the communication panel began to clear. She couldn't really make out what was on the other end yet.  
"This is Unified Intelligence Taskforce. We are a representative on the behalf of all the people of Earth. Please identity yourself and your intentions," Martha stated, her voice level. The Doctor glanced from her to the screen, then back again. He tapped his foot before reaching into his pocket and putting his glasses back on. Donna noticed Jack's hand go to his earpiece again. He looked down and off to the side, before returning his gaze to the screen. The Doctor continued to fidget.  
"If they're coming here now, I better go. They'll want to talk to humans, not me," he said.  
"Don't be stupid," Donna snapped, "you're staying right here." The Doctor frowned but didn't attempt to move.  
"Are you receiving us?" Martha asked, voice even. The pixelated communication screen began to clear. The Doctor clasped his hands behind his back, rocking forward, and whipping his glasses off. Donna narrowed her eyes, trying to focus on the figure that was coming into view. It seemed humanoid, which was a help. The screen continued to clear; Donna could see four arm, long tendrils that could be hair or tentacles, she couldn't tell yet, and an oval shaped head.  
"We will judge your worth," said an distorted voice. Donna gulped. "We will meet the Unified Intelligence Taskforce," it said. Martha didn't move from her position, nor did she say anything. Nerves of steel, Donna noted. The communication screen cut off. A soft glow appeared, encircling Martha. She looked down in surprise. The Doctor reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her from the glowing ring.  
"They're coming down to meet us," he said grimly.  
"Is that good or bad?" Donna asked.  
"We're about to find out," he said, face set.  
The glowing ring glowed ever brighter. The UNIT staff stood from their stations, facing the ring with apprehension etched on their faces. The glow formed a figure and with a flash of light, the leader of the Parauviu stood in the UNIT headquarters.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The aliens arrive and all hell breaks loose.

Donna shielded her eyes from the bright flash, warily removing her arm from her face and blinking in surprise at the form in front of her. The Parauviu was humanoid, standing at around 7 feet tall. A pair of arms in the same place as a human, branching off at the elbow to form two pairs of forearms. Two tentacle appendages sprouted from the top of it's head- one curling around it's front and one curling around it's back. It's torso graduated down, almost to a tear-drop shape, with it's legs ending in what Donna could not responsibly describe as feet. They reminded her of ballet point shoes, apart from the fact that it wasn't stood on the floor, but floating inches above it. The Doctor breathed out, all but whistling in awe.  
"Been a long time since I've seen any of them," he whispered, nodding at the figure in front of them. It seemed fuzzy at the edges.  
"Is it a projection?" Donna whispered back.  
"Right now," the Doctor replied.  
Martha carefully walked back forward, placing herself in front of the rest of the group and directly in front of their visitor.  
"What are you intentions here?" she asked.  
"I am here to judge your worth. We have specifically sought out this planet amongst the stars," the Parauviu said, staring ahead.  
Jack's brow creased at the comment.  
"So much for keeping a low profile," he murmured. Donna nodded in agreement. Donna then felt something strange; a pressure on her mind like a mild headache. The Doctor all but jolted.  
"You shouldn't be able to do that," he said darkly. "That's not your technology," he said, expression stormy.  
"It is practical," the Parauviu said, still staring ahead unblinking.  
"Time Lord technology?" Martha asked, voice low.  
"Related to," the Doctor replied, eyes not moving from the Parauviu. "It's searching the world as a whole. That's not good," he said, taking a few steps forward. One of the Parauviu tentacles unfurled from around it's body and shot forward. A warning. The Doctor stopped just short, behind where Martha stood.  
"Liars will be purged. And do not think you can fool me, Time Lord," the Parauviu, gaze finally moving to focus on the Doctor. It's eyes were completely white, bar the black slits for pupils. "You hide the most here. The human race is mediocre in it's appraisal, but we cannot allow you to continue," it said, voice still serene.  
"Oh yes, I was just leaving in fact," the Doctor said, demeanour changed. He went for the TARDIS. "Right now, I'll leave," he added.  
"No!" the Parauviu shrieked. The UNIT personnel jolted, hands going to handguns hidden in their desks. The soldiers stood to the sides of the room tightened the hold on their rifles.  
"You are a refugee and you lie. You hide behind your façade, as do the humans. We will fix the broken," it said. "They harbour you and yet you lie to them still," it added, staring at the Doctor. "But still," it said, now turning to Martha. "The human race will be judged. We will show you your truths. Those who cannot accept them will be purged," it said tonelessly.  
"If by purge you mean kill, then know that we will resist your efforts," Martha replied, head raised.  
"It is to be expected," the Parauviu said. "But this one cannot continue," it said, again looking at the Doctor. "We know of Time Lords, and what they have done to the universe. They will see you," it said. It's two pairs of arms clapped and there was a flash of light.

"Getting tired of that," Jack groaned, rubbing his eyes.  
"Hold on, is this Oxford Street?" the Doctor said, sounding bemused.  
"Why the hell are we here?" Donna demanded, blinking furiously at the temporary blindness.  
"Most populated area in London," Martha said. The group turned as their sight returned, and were greeted with a squad of Parauviu. Donna estimated that were about 30 of them.  
"We have identified the most populated areas of each city. We will begin and soon you will all be liberated from your lies," a Parauviu said. Donna wasn't sure if this was the same one that had talked to them before or not. They all looked near enough to identical, bar the occasional change in colouration to a near white or a dusky pink. The Doctor whipped around, realising they were in a crowded street. By crowded he meant very crowded. People had cleared an area around the group, eyes wide with terror. More aliens meant more death to them.  
"I'll sortie UNIT staff to usher everyone back into their homes," Jack said, tapping his earpiece back on.  
"You couldn't have been more subtle about it," Donna accused, staring down the group of Parauviu. "You're terrifying everyone!" she yelled. The group of aliens stared right back.  
"Donna," the Doctor warned. He glanced around. Too many people. Far too many. Some were already running away, others were frozen in fear. Some, he noted with a hint of amusement, were too busy to notice the ordeal at all. A woman snatched her child as it walked towards one of the Parauviu, arms outstretched in wonder. Another woman stood closer than the rest of the crowd and cupped her hands to her mouth.  
"Leave us alone!" she yelled. The Parauviu turned in unison to face her. She seemed startled but did not back down. "Go back to your planet and leave us alone!" she said, voice shaking slightly. The Parauviu did not reply. They turned to the Doctor and his companions.  
"They will see you, Time Lord," they said in unison, and all raised their tentacled arms. The Doctor's expression turned hostile.  
"You don't have the means for that," he said, voice low. There was a low hum, though Donna couldn't tell where it was coming from. Martha frowned, looking for the source of the noise. The air was charged with static. The public that had been frozen now began to leave, some running, others casting worried looks behind them as they walked away. The Doctor sucked in a breath. He looked down at himself, panic growing. His head snapped back up at the Parauviu. Donna opened her mouth to yell at them, to stop whatever they were doing but then, the Doctor seemed to blur. It was like his outline was shifting. Jack and Martha were in the same situation; driven to defend the Doctor but bemused by what was happening.  
"You will not use that façade any longer," the Parauviu said. This time only one of them spoke. The Doctor grimaced and- Donna's blood ran cold.  
Where the Doctor once stood was now a beast. A four legged dragon- a bloody dragon! This beast stood almost 5'2" at the shoulder and over 15' long; patterned with brown scales interchanging stripes of pale blue with a belly of the same colour; coarse mane that culminated in a whip-tail tufted with the same hair. And it hissed- teeth bared and ears back flat. Donna subconsciously stumbled back and she felt a hand like a vice around her arm- Jack, looking both outraged and alarmed.  
"Is that?" Donna hissed, eyes wide. "It can't be, they've done something, teleported him away," she said, stumbling over the words.  
"I'm not sure," Martha said, stepping to Donna's side. Unlike Jack, her expression was tense. The Parauviu floated forward, it's tentacle arms wrapping back around it's torso.  
"You cannot lie now," it said.  
"You shouldn't be able to do that," the beast snarled, staring the Parauviu down. The voice was startling like the Doctor's, but deeper. It reverberated within the chasms of the beast's chests."Change me back," it said, teeth bared.  
"We will not allow it," the Parauviu said. People were beginning to panic now. Cries of wordless terror echoed in the air.  
"You have no authority over me," the beast snarled. Quick as a flash, it leapt forward, heading directly for the speaker Parauviu. The Parauviu unfurled it's tentacle arms to defend itself but too late- the beast crashed into it head on, knocking the alien several metres back. The beast hissed again, teeth bared as it turned to descend upon the rest of the Parauviu; but now they were ready, all of their arms out. Those at the fringe of the group glided over to fleeing bystanders, grabbing them and looking them in the eyes. Whatever they did, the people screamed in protest. Jack whipped a handgun from his pocket and shot one of the directly in the head- it fell, hitting the ground with a thud. The whole group then turned and stared at Jack, but they were knocked down; appendages sprouted from the beasts back, unfurling from nothing into massive wings, knocking several of the Parauviu over. They shrieked- ear splittingly loud in their righteous fury. In the distance, UNIT jeeps raced into view, crammed with soldiers and their weapons.  
"At least guns work on them," Jack yelled over the din.  
"We need to get the people away," Martha yelled back, shepherding fleeing civilians away from the Parauviu.  
"Do you think that's the Doctor?" Donna asked, voice quieter than usual. She looked at Jack then Martha. "Did either of you.." she trailed off, gesturing back at the beast. It continued to tear through the group of Parauviu in a blind rage before meeting Donna's eye. It froze. Donna took a step forward.  
"Doctor?" she said, voice low. The beast kept eye contact.  
"It must be," Martha said, coming up next to Donna. Jack looked on. The UNIT jeeps had arrived now, a spray of fire hitting the Parauviu. The beast reared up in alarm, finally breaking eye contact with Donna and span around. It sprinted away, running over the jeep to the surprise of all inside, without slowing down. It raced away from the battle, taking no heed of the jeeps or people in the way.

Jack was the first to react.  
"We have to go after him!" he yelled, running up the jeep as the soldiers jumped out. Donna and Martha followed on his heel.  
"And do what, give him a nice juicy steak and hope he calms down and doesn't try to eat us? He's a bloody dragon!" Donna yelled as they ran. Martha signaled for the driver of the jeep to get out.  
"Are they anywhere else?" she asked him.  
"They're everywhere," he said, posture straight but eyes betraying his fear.  
"Shit," Jack murmured to himself. Martha nodded and the driver left; the three climbed into the car.  
"I'll drive," Donna said as she swung into the drivers seat. Jack climbed into the back and hoisted himself half out of the window, leaning with his handgun to look around.  
"I can still see him," he said. Donna spun the steering wheel and slammed her foot down the accelerator. The car screeched and sped away. Martha reached down into the seat well, pulling out a collapsible rifle. She wordlessly handed it to Jack who gave her the handgun. She frowned at it but took it after a few seconds consideration. Donna watched the beast that was still far ahead of them run, avoiding fleeing citizens. Fortunately most of them had already been ushered away by UNIT, but Donna still had to swerve to avoid a few of them. She tried to control her breathing but failed and let out a breathless, hysterical laugh.  
"So.. you didn't know either," Donna said. Martha shook her head. Jack did nothing. "So.. the Doctor's a giant space dragon and no one knew," she concluded, suppressing more hysterical laughter.  
"Apparently," Martha said. "He's hidden things before, and I'm not sure I'll ever really understand what he feels but this is.." Martha trailed off and put her hand on her forehead, letting out a sigh. "It's new," she said. Jack laughed weakly.  
"I can't say I'm that surprised. I'm mostly worried that he completely freaked," he said.  
"It doesn't bother you that he's a giant space lizard with claws and wings," Donna asked, waving her free hand to emphasize the absurdity.  
"He's already an alien," Jack said. He shrugged. "I've been into weirder things," he added.  
"Well that's you, and I'm me, and I am freaking out!" Donna said, voice rising in pitch. "He's a dragon! A dragon! Why are you two so calm! You could at least pretend to freak out to make me feel better," she said, "I feel like an amateur right now!"  
"Oh don't worry, I'm freaking out internally," Jack assured her.  
"That makes me feel way better," Donna replied. "Anyway, we're catching up to him so if either of you have crocodile wrangling skills now is the time to say," she said.  
"I have restraint training but that might not work on a dragon," Martha said. Jack snorted. Donna glanced at Martha.  
"You taking this okay?" she asked. Martha looked up in surprise.  
"Of course, I'm alright," she said.  
"Ah, you're in on the code too," Donna said sarcastically. Martha raised an eyebrow. "The 'I'm Alright' code for 'Not really alright at all'", Donna explained. Martha smiled.  
"We just need to talk to him and to stay-" she stopped mid sentence. "Donna, look," she said. Donna turned back to the road.  
"Well that's going to be a problem," Jack commented dryly. The Doctor had unfurled his wings and with each flap flew higher from the ground.  
"That's not fair," Martha said matter of fact-ly. He flew higher, and higher, and turned, soaring up and over the top of the building next to the street.  
"Where do you think he's going?" Donna asked. Jack scanned the surrounding.  
"Back to the Tower," he said, pulling himself back into the jeep.  
"Back to the TARDIS," Martha mused.  
"Alright then, hold onto your purses," Donna said, spinning the steering wheel into the turning they'd almost missed and slapping her foot back onto the accelerator. "The tower it is," she said, determined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is going to be from the Doctor's point of view. Safe to say, he is not pleased.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor and companions find each other again. Some yelling occurs.

The Doctor hadn't expected this. Parauviu, fine, he could deal with them. Clairvoyants tended to be a bit of pain. He'd underestimated them and now he was paying the price. He wasn't used to his natural form, he'd barely even used it in this regeneration. Once or twice before, but not in several years now. He'd grown fond of his human form, and it was right. It felt right. He felt wrong now, and now Jack, Martha, and Donna all knew. And he hadn't been the one to explain to them. He was going to get round to it, honestly, but when he went to he found that he couldn't. It used to be easier. UNIT couldn't kick him out when he stuck on earth, and he didn't used to really worry about people's reaction. But now their reactions mattered. They mattered so much. So, maybe he'd freaked out a bit. He just felt so guilty that he ended up running away, only they'd actually followed him which made him feel even more guilty. So he'd taken to the skies. These wings were probably one of the best sets he'd gotten for flying, the ratio from his body to his wings put his body as pitifully small in comparison. It was freeing to take to the skies, he cursed London's bad weather, but it was a painful pang of home too. The cold and all. Not to mention that the Parauviu had decided they were going to attack in earnest. He had to get back to the Tower base. Another flap of his wings sent him higher; the Thames was in view now. The Doctor tried his hardest to focus on flying. Just focusing on that and nothing else. That plan was going fine until he noticed there was a buzzing noise, getting louder and louder. He opened his eyes and oh, that was a helicopter. It was awfully close. Oh, that was really too close for comfort in fact. The Doctor swerved wildly, titling on his wing and narrowly avoiding getting blades through the wings. Okay, maybe focus a bit more than that. The Tower danced in the edge of his sight, the fusion of historic brick and glass was prevalent throughout the city. Looking down at London now; there were many UNIT jeeps and cars, alongside tanks and helicopter that the Doctor could hear in the distance. Squads of Parauviu were also there, but it looked like UNIT was winning. There were no Parauviu vehicles except for spaceships- they liked the personal touch. The Doctor had neglected to tell UNIT that'd they'd most likely win in an all out fight- he didn't want to encourage until into it. It was fortunate now though, as everything went wrong, that UNIT could hold their own. Even so, he had to try to put an end to the fight. Satisfied he was close enough to the Tower- and not wanting to fly into it- the Doctor began to descend. There were still people around, but it was mostly UNIT personnel. Most civilians had been evacuated or fled before they'd been evacuated. The Doctor surmised that he'd probably have to sneak around the remaining UNIT staff. They should know him, even like this, but he didn't want to take the risk of a bullet to the chest. Getting to the TARDIS was his first priority, to fix whatever the Parauviu had done to his projection. The second was to find everyone and explain- and perhaps grovel for a while. He set down in the middle of an abandoned street and made his way towards the Tower base. He walked through several streets, eventually leading him to a convoy of UNIT soldiers. The Doctor stopped in his tracks. He tried to get the projection back up but it didn't respond. He hung his head. He pondered the risk- and turned around. Working out an alternate route, the Doctor turned back the way he came, but then there was a sound. The distant roar of an engine going at full throttle. The Doctor looked up and around. Careening around the corner was a UNIT jeep. The Doctor baulked. Time to face the music.

"Okay, I told them to stay inside and not to threaten them," Martha said as she ended the call to her family. "Mum wasn't happy about there being another alien invasion," she added. Donna wondered just how of an underestimate "unhappy" was, but didn't ask.  
"Good thing about having my family," Jack said, "is that they're always ready for alien invasions."  
"No one's ever ready for that," Martha scolded.  
"Yeah, but we can pretend to be ready, and that's almost as good," Jack answered with a grin.  
"Fake it til you make it," Donna added.  
"Damn right," Jack agreed.  
"This street or this one?" Donna asked as the jeep drifted to a turning.  
"This one, and then you can floor it," Martha answered. Donna proceeded to do just that. The road was abandoned, with bags overflowing with shopping left in the street. Bins had been knocked over in the panic to run away.  
"You know what you're going to say to him yet?" Jack asked after a period of silence.  
"Not yet," Donna said, face set.  
"Well you better think quick, because there he is," Martha said, leaning forward in her seat. Donna's foot didn't move from the accelerator.  
"I hope you're not doing to run him over," she added.  
"Not physically," Donna said. She eased her foot from the accelerator, leaving the jeep 10 metres from the Doctor. Going to have to get used to that, Donna thought. But first, there was something she needed to do.  
The Doctor was not looking forward to explaining himself. He was bad at explanations in general. Explaining why he'd hidden how he looked and lied, telling everyone he was humanoid, and then having it come out without his reassurance first- it was bad. Jack, he knew, would understand eventually. Jack had been betrayed enough to understand. Besides, he was more knowledgeable about alien etiquette and culture. Martha too had been betrayed and lied to by him; especially when they first met; so this was another thing to add to the list. Those thoughts hurt. However, Donna wasn't exactly going to take this well. At least, not quietly.  
"What the hell did you think you were doing?!" Donna yelled as she slammed the jeep door shut. The Doctor swallowed. He opened his mouth to speak, but-  
"You complete and utter alien fruitcake! You hid the fact that you're a giant bloody space dragon with wings and four legs!" Donna continued, breaking off and pressing a hand to her face.  
"This properly insane! You better explain right now and you better pray it's good or best friends or not I am going to-"  
"Donna," Martha warned as she walked up to Donna's side.  
"I'll do something! You hear! I'll-"  
"No, up there," Jack said. The Doctor looked up- off in the distance was a spaceship.  
"Parauviu shuttlecraft," he said.  
"They're going to do.. whatever they're doing to more people," Martha said. She reached for the walkie talkie on her belt.  
"I'll bring it down," the Doctor said. Martha looked skeptical.  
"Physically?" she asked. "I mean, you're big but you can't weigh that much if you can fly," she added. The Doctor's ears flicked forward in appreciation and this form of acceptable; at least she was still talking to him.  
"True, but I'm still going to try. We need to talk to the Parauviu about leaving," he said, stretching his forelimbs forward and unfolding wings.  
"I hope you mean them leaving Earth and not us leaving," Jack said with a smirk.  
"Ha ha ha," the Doctor intoned sarcastically.  
"I'm not done yelling at you!" Donna interrupted. "Also, backup, that would be great! On the yelling at our alien friend here!" she added, jabbing a finger at Martha and Jack, though the power from her voice had begun to wane.  
"I understand you're all mad at me, even if Donna is the most vocal about it. And it's fine, you can yell at me and then I'll explain everything but first the Parauviu need to go," the Doctor said, eyes on the spaceship as it grew ever closer.  
"How do we get them to leave?" Martha asked.  
"Ask politely," the Doctor said. Martha groaned.  
"That's not a plan," she said. "That's not even anything," she added.  
"I don't know, it works sometimes," Jack said with a shrug. Martha narrowed her eyes at him but the edges of her mouth curled upwards.  
"Don't encourage him," she said, raising her eyebrows.  
"I don't need encouragement," the Doctor said.

A blast of wind hit the three as the Doctor leapt from the ground, wings stirring circular winds into mini maelstroms. He flew, gaining altitude with each beat of his wings. Before long, he got up to the ship and did his best to hover above it. With a metallic thump, he landed and slammed down on the roof with his front legs. The ship veered dangerously close to a nosedive. Donna squinted, hand shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched.  
"He's working at it," she explained. Jack had a hold of the intercom in the UNIT jeep in order to survey the situation. Martha stood beside Donna.  
"I think we all forget sometimes," she mused.  
"What do you mean?" Donna asked, turning away from the sky.  
"That he's an alien. It's easy to forget because he looks like us," she said. "But he doesn't actually look like us at all. It makes all the alien stuff easier to see and to justify," she continued. "But sometimes he's so human, and sometimes he's so alien," she said.  
"I know what you mean," Donna agreed.  
"He's too good to be humanoid," Jack called from the truck. "Way too good. Always wondered, but all the info I had on Time Lords, which I'll admit wasn't much, said they were humanoid," he said, glancing up at the sky where the Doctor continued to wrestle against the roof of the Parauviu shuttle.  
"So, they choose to go human in public?" Donna asked. Jack shrugged.  
"I guess so. It's a pretty common body type as species go," he reasoned.  
"Draws less attention than giant space dragon," Martha murmured. Donna snorted and nudged her with an elbow.  
"He still draws quite a bit of attention," Donna said. "The ships coming down," she said, gesturing upwards.  
The Doctor retracted from the roof as a panel snapped shut and he flew back down, joining his companions on the road.  
"They're going to meet us in the Tower," he explained, folding his wings back up.  
"I was expecting them to crash into the gravel," Jack said. The Doctor titled his head. A few seconds passed, then Donna spoke.  
"You got their attention and asked them to land," she stated. She laughed. "Okay, definitely you," she said.  
"I told you I would," the Doctor said with a turn of his head, feeling pleased. "They went off to get their leader," he added.  
"What'd you tell them?" Martha asked.  
"For a compromise. Considering they're not immune to bullets, and UNIT has a lot of bullets, they're not faring as well as they'd hoped. Which is weird, because they really should know that. It's almost like they landed in the wrong time period," he mused out loud as the group walked towards the UNIT tower base. "That technology they have is suspect too. Well," he said, "They need to stop attacking first, then I'll ask about how they got the worldwide mind scan and why they didn't know they'd be outmatched," he concluded. "Also yell at them for doing this," he said, gesturing with a clawed hand at his body. "And I am sorry, I really am. I was going to explain to you, to all of you, but it's a difficult thing to bring up," he said.  
"How about when you say you're an alien? It's not like it doesn't come up," Donna said.  
"Well, yeah, but then you could run away or freak out," he said quietly.  
"You can't be serious," Donna said, rounding on the Doctor. "I wasn't aware you were a delicate flower you relies on other people's opinions," she said. The Doctor rolled his eyes.  
"I'm not! It didn't used to be an issue. And to be honest Martha, I'm surprised they didn't tell you. UNIT knows, or did know in the past. Maybe Alistair wiped those parts of the records? I can't say I'd surprise me," the Doctor rambled.  
"UNIT knows?" Martha asked, expression stormy. "Nice to be informed," she added, frowning.  
"Well, Alistair may well have take it out of my record. Or the records they have on Time Lords," the Doctor explained. "I'm sorry," he said with a sigh. "Oh, and now the convoy's gone! Of course it is," he said with a scowl. They continued on in silence broken by the distance sounds of chaos- gunfire and screaming. The entire group was far too familiar with it.  
"So what's the plan?" Martha asked, tapping the Doctor on the shoulder to get his attention. His skin wasn't as warm as she'd expected.  
"Go in there, talk to them, hope for the best," the Doctor replied as he turned to Martha and winked. Martha laughed, because seeing a dragon wink was absurd, and also because this was familiar; even if the Doctor was a dragon.  
"You can't wink as well as a dragon," she observed when the laughter subsided. The Doctor scrunched up his snout.  
"I'm not a dragon. That's not a real thing," he said disdainfully.  
"You sure?" Jack asked sarcastically.  
"Absolutely," he said.  
"Then what are you? A wyvern?" Donna asked, equally sarcastic. The Doctor rolled his shoulders.  
"I'm a draconoid. There are a few other species but they're all pretty rare. And I don't naturally have wings," the Doctor explained.  
"Naturally?" Donna asked, bewildered. She leant over and poked the base of his wings, which made him twitch and shoot a glare. "They stuck on?" she smirked, wiggling her eyebrows.  
"They're granted to the higher echelons of Time Lord society," he explained. "Which is stupid anyway, because they don't go outside and therefore don't need them," he added, annoyed.  
"So you can take them on and off?" Martha asked.  
"Yeah," the Doctor concurred. "I'll explain better later," he said. "Because here we are! Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, looking as beautiful as ever!"  
"Yeah, funny how you managed cut off the conversation there," Donna said. "Actually, how are you going to get through the door?" she asked as they made their way towards the back-door entrance, eyes twinkling. The Doctor looked at the glass door, complete with personnel ID swipes to prevent intruders. Mind you, the Doctor thought, anyone could find the back door. It wasn't exactly hidden. He could probably squeeze through it, though it would be undignified and might trap his tail. Which would hurt.  
"I'll manage," the Doctor answered, and waited behind to figure out a way to get through the small door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing Ten sure is interesting, considering how much he talks. Next up: reasoning with angry templar aliens and angry UNIT people.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fight is resolved and the Doctor is heckled.

The Doctor did eventually manage to force himself through the glass door, with much shimmying and a profound feeling of his dignity draining away. Jack pretended to look sympathetic for a few seconds before snorting with laughter. Martha and Donna didn't even try to look sympathetic. Ears flat and eyes cast downward, the Doctor slunk forward. Martha led the group back through the corridors the UNIT base.  
"You need to make this more species friendly," the Doctor commented after barely squeezing through another door. "I'm not even that big," he added quietly.   
"I'll talk to the boss about it," Martha said without looking back.  
"I'm not the boss?" the Doctor said, pointing at himself with a clawed hand whilst shooting Donna a bemused expression.  
"You want to be?" Donna asked.  
"Well, no, but.." he trailed off, still gesturing with one hand, ears flicking forward in lieu of explanation.  
"I was under the impression that you didn't like UNIT all that much," Donna said, brow creased.  
"I don't like how they've modernised, and I use modernised in the “more guns and more bombs” way," he explained.  
"We have to defend ourselves somehow," Jack replied.  
"I know," the Doctor said, though he didn't sound convinced.  
"So, how many more corridors do we have to go through?" Donna said brightly, changing the subject.  
"Three," Martha said, shooting Donna an apologetic smile.  
"Good thing I wore my running shoes," Donna said. "Though they're essentially a prerequisite considering how we run for our lives even in the supposedly tranquil places," she added, shooting the Doctor a look. He ducked his head.  
"Not my fault that they recognised me," he said unhappily. "I don't even look the same," he added. Martha swiped her ID card through another security check.   
"We better get there before the Paraviau," Jack said. "I hear it's a diplomatic faux pas," he explained. The Doctor rolled his eyes and Martha shook her head.  
"It'll probably take them a while to get here," the Doctor responded. "I mean, they had to go get the speaker Paraviau first, then come back here in the shuttlecraft, whereas we just came straight here," he said.  
"One more corridor," Martha reported with another swipe of her ID card.  
"Unless they have faster travel than I'm used to. That shuttlecraft was slow, so it's doubtful," he continued. "And we walked really fast, so I think I can safely say that we have avoided a diplomatic faux pa-"  
The final security check passed, double metal doors swung open, revealing UNIT's main hub. Bedraggled staff stood with their weapons ready. They all looked towards the platform that overlooked the main screen. The platform wasn't as empty as the Doctor had expected.   
"Oh," he said.  
"Told you," Jack muttered.  
"I, uh," the Doctor responded helpfully.  
"Silence!" the speaker Paraviau cried. There was a sharp edge to its voice that had been absent previously.  
"What, feeling upset that you're losing?" the Doctor retorted, regaining his composure.  
"This is not a war. We do not win nor lose. We correct," it replied, voice still shrill.  
"So you say," the Doctor said cheerfully. "But we're here to negotiate," he said as he shifted; body swaying as he repositioned himself.  
"Not used to being on four legs?" Donna whispered.  
"Still enjoying the moral high ground?" the Doctor whispered back. He cleared his throat. "So, truth’s out. You did your job. Everyone is very truthful. So if you could leave, then UNIT will let you go, won't they?" he explained with a pointed head tilt towards Martha. She nodded, posture once again as straight and stern as it had been earlier. "And you outed my lie personally, so I really would like it if you left," the Doctor added. Silence lingered in the room. The Paraviau did not stir.  
"We require a declaration," the speaker eventually concluded.  
"A declaration of what exactly?" Martha asked.  
"That you will keep your new position of those who speak the truth," it said. "We will leave once this is done," it added.  
"You want that declaration on paper?" Martha said slowly, looking bemused. The speaker Paraviau clapped and with another flash it revealed a glowing holographic scroll. Etched in flowing letters that resembled greek, the projection glowed a soft pink similar to the display of the Paraviau ship. Martha glanced at the Doctor. He met her eyes and nodded. She stepped forward.   
"Tap this box," the speaker said. At the bottom of the scroll, a box glowed. Martha scanned the text and as she did, it changed to English. It reminded her of a terms and conditions sheet, text so small she could barely read it anyway and chock full of meaningless terms. The Paraviau stared onwards. She wanted to read this properly, but she also really wanted them gone. Against her better judgement, she tapped the box. The scroll rippled and disappeared.  
"The human race is cleansed of its façade," the Paraviau declared. Martha swallowed uneasily. The group of Paraviau stood together and once again a ring of light circled them. Martha stepped back as they teleported away. She looked to the main monitor and called out.  
"Are their ships leaving?" she asked. The few personnel left in the building tapped at their consoles.  
"Looks like it," one of them replied. "The ones on the ground are teleporting away and the ships are gaining altitude," they added. "Are we.. going to let them go?" they said hesitantly. Martha tapped her foot and felt Jack step closer to her. She swallowed and he said nothing.  
"Let them go," she confirmed. 

The Doctor let out a sigh of relief and flexed his neck, one hand reaching for the back of his neck but stopping after realising his neck was a longer than normal. He grunted in annoyance. Donna watched in amusement.  
"I think I just made a terrible mistake," Martha admitted. Jack opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by shrill ringing. Martha dug into her pocket and pulled out a phone. "Hello? Colonel. It's under control now. Yes, they're leaving," she said, each response separated by several seconds of silence. She looked over at the Doctor and Donna. "Yes, he's here. No, I think you should stay. I can handle it. Yes sir. Okay," Martha said before hanging up the phone.  
"Mace?" Jack asked.  
"Yup," Martha affirmed. "I don't think he's enjoying Vancouver," she added.  
"I don’t suppose he is," Jack laughed. "Well.. that could have been worse," Jack concluded as he scanned the room. Hands braced against their desks, the UNIT staff keep eyes on their work and on screens, but permitted themselves to check their phones, eyes darting down.  
"No way they'll get through to anyone," Donna commented. "Way too much traffic," she explained.  
"Not if they use emergency frequencies," Jack said.  
"Is that legal?" Donna asked. Jack waved his hand dismissively.  
"So, that thing I just signed," Martha began, "That's going to come back to bite us, isn't it?" she sighed.  
"Well, not necessarily," the Doctor said.  
"They're going to make sure we don't lie, as a species," Martha said dryly.  
"Oh yeah, they'll visit from time to time to see if you're keeping with the declaration," the Doctor confirmed. Martha hung her head. "No no, it's fine, all they need is for you to say that you are and then they'll leave again," the Doctor explained quickly.  
"They won't actually check?" Martha asked. The Doctor dipped his head in confirmation. "But then it's a lie?" Martha commented. "They don't care about that one?" she added dryly before the Doctor could reply.  
"Such is the nature of the paradox," the Doctor shrugged. "I didn't say it made any sense," he added wryly.  
"No kidding," Donna commented. "So we're fine? Minus whatever they've done to everyone else," she said. The Doctor hummed.  
"We missed out on the real action," he supplied. "The real action being that they force people to spout things they've lied about to whoever is nearby. Not exactly the cleanest system ever created, but it gets the job of being truthful done," the Doctor concluded.  
"Wonderful," Donna sighed.  
"It'll have shaken some things up," the Doctor said evenly.  
"The news says that the Secretary of State told a citizen about his penthouse in Mississippi," Martha called. Jack stood next to her as the main screen in the UNIT headquarters switched to the news.  
"So they just.. forced people to spout whatever they've been lying about?" Donna asked.  
"Pretty much," the Doctor replied. "Can be anything from petty lies to professional assassins telling people about their targets," he added.  
"Or pretending that you're not a giant space dragon," Donna said nonchalantly.  
"Or that," the Doctor said. "And like I said before, not a dragon," he added.  
"Sure," Donna said dubiously.  
“I’m not,” the Doctor insisted.  
"You know, you look a bit horsey," Donna commented. The Doctor reeled in indignation. He didn't manage to choke out a reply before Donna started again. "Like an equine-snake mishmash. With a horse-y mane," she observed.   
"I don't look like a horse! That's an arbitrary comparison to Earth animals and I'm not an animal or from Earth," the Doctor protested.  
"Technically you are an animal," Martha commented. "We all are," she added with a sweeping motion of her hand.  
"But not an Earth animal, and not in that way," the Doctor whined. "Just because I'm not humanoid doesn't make me any less sophisticated or evolved of a species," he added unhappily.  
"I'm not sure I'd use sophisticated to describe you anyway," Donna said. The Doctor shot her a hurt look. "Oh relax, I'm joking! You're so on edge," she laughed.  
"You're using it your advantage," the Doctor muttered.  
"Gotta use any upper hand I can get over a Time Lord, Lord of Time and pinstripe suits," Donna remarked.  
"Hey! Saying I'm not sophisticated then complaining I'm pompous is counter-productive," the Doctor retorted.  
"I can't hear you over you being a giant space dragon-snake-horse," Donna said as she crossed her arms. The Doctor scowled at her, rustling his wings slightly.  
"You can be pompous," Martha said.  
"Not you too," the Doctor groaned.  
"I bet pompous is more threatening as a dragon," Jack added. The Doctor let out a long suffering sigh.  
"Anyway. How about you tell us about yourself properly," Martha said.   
"I already have," the Doctor replied.  
"Evidently not," Donna said evenly. The Doctor put a clawed hand to his face, sliding it down slowly before he sat down.   
"Okay. My humanoid form is shown by an internal trans-dimensional holo-projector, and the projection translates my natural form into the closest it can get as an humanoid equivalent," he explained.  
"Hold on," Donna said, voice sharp. The Doctor turned to her, concerned. "Are your clothes a projection? Oh please tell me that you're not always naked because that is so weird and so wrong-"  
"No, the clothes are real," the Doctor interrupted.   
"Thank god," Donna sighed in relief. “I have honestly seen you naked enough,” she said.  
“It was once?” the Doctor said.  
“It was enough,” Donna replied.  
"But your clothes are gone now," Martha said.  
"In a personal pocket dimension. They'll come back once I can get the projection working again," the Doctor replied. "Honestly, It's worrying that the Paraviau were even able to do this. It's advanced technology and should be way beyond them," he added.  
"The price you pay for being cocky," Jack commented. "Or the price for underestimating the enemy. Take your pick," he added.  
"I'll give you that," the Doctor admitted.  
"The projection must protect you a bit, right? It would explain how you're fine after being beaten up so much," Martha concluded. The Doctor nodded in affirmation. "I always put it down to Time Lords being hardier than humans. Considering I didn't have any other examples," she mused, then stopped. "Not a big enough pool at least," she added, voice hardening. Jack cleared his throat and attempted to the steer the conversation back into safe waters.  
"So your humanoid body isn't real," Jack stated. The Doctor tilted his head from left to right and hummed.  
"No, because it's not a real body, but it does exist," he explained. "It's not a hologram in the conventional way people think of a hologram," he added.  
"Because it's a physical thing," Donna concluded.  
"Right," the Doctor said.  
"Alright, fine," Donna said. "But you still should have told us," she said.  
"I know. I'm sorry," he said.  
"Why didn't you say when you met each of us," Martha asked, brow creased.  
"It’s.. it's two totally different things, introducing yourself as an aesthetically humanoid alien and introducing yourself as an alien masquerading a humanoid alien when you're actually a quadrupedal draconoid," he explained. "I thought I'd get round to it," he admitted.  
"You did tell Rose, didn't you?" Jack asked.  
"Yeah, I did," the Doctor admitted. He didn't meet anyone's eyes. "I'll be honest, I didn't trust you. That's why I stuck with being humanoid when you were around," he said, finally looking up at Jack.  
"I did get that you didn't trust me," Jack said, amused. "It's alright," he added gently. "You're still you," he said.  
"I am," the Doctor said. He turned to Martha, who had turned back to the main screen. "Do you..?" he said hesitantly.  
"Trust you?" she asked. She rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you're still asking me that," she said. The Doctor laughed warmly.  
"Okay," he said as he met her eyes, ears flicking forward earnestly. Satisfied, he turned to Donna.  
"Oh no you don't," Donna said. "We're going back to my house first," she stated and she turned away. The Doctor squinted in confusion.  
"We are?" he asked.  
"We're going to my house and you're going to tell my Granddad that you're a space dragon. In fact you're going to show him," she said.  
"Do you think that's a good idea?" the Doctor asked as he reluctantly followed her.  
"Yeah I do," Donna said matter-of-factly. "If you can get through the TARDIS door that is," she said as she pushed the door open. She glanced at the height and width of the door, then at the Doctor. He too looked the door up and down. The Doctor hung his head unhappily.  
"We.. could walk?" Donna offered. The Doctor looked at her.  
"Walking down the streets of London with a dragon just after an alien crisis," he commented. Donna shrugged.  
"You could get a UNIT convey to protect you or escort you, if you can fit in the back of a jeep," Martha offered, suppressing laughter.  
"We'll walk," the Doctor said immediately. "Everyone will be busy with their own problems," he justified.  
"Hopefully," Donna added. The Doctor scowled at her and she scowled back. "Come on then," she said, "Back through all of the corridors and the small doors," she said. The Doctor whined. "Don't be such a baby," Donna retorted as she swung the twin metal doors open.  
"I'm not a baby," the Doctor sulked.  
"No, you're a dragon," Donna said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One chapter left!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ten and Donna visit Wilf and tea is drunk.

The Doctor wasn't sure how well he'd thought out this plan. He'd barely even thought about it at all. He really didn't want to go through the embarrassment of getting into the TARDIS and getting stuck, so he'd decided that he and Donna would walk to her house. Which was great in theory. It would have been fine if he wasn't still stuck in his natural form. The streets were fortunately quiet. Still, the Doctor hung his head in an attempt to appear less conspicuous.  
"It's not working," Donna commented with a wry smile. "You can't just duck your head and hide. Besides, hiding isn't like you anyway. It doesn't suit you," she continued.  
"I'm not trying to hide," the Doctor said.  
"It looks like you are," Donna replied.  
"I don't want to draw attention to myself," he said. Donna laughed, then cleared her throat.  
"It's a little late for that," she said, fist still pressed to her mouth, still smiling. "Embrace your scaly self," she said with a snort. The Doctor looked at her, tail flicking behind him. He straightened up to his full height, his stride increasing. Donna found herself having to walk faster as he returned to his natural fast gait.  
"Okay, maybe not that much," Donna said. The Doctor grinned.  
"You can't take it back now," he said cheerfully. He stretched his neck up and rustled his wings.  
"Alright, alright," Donna said, smacking lightly at one of his wings as he unfurled them.  
"Ow!" he exclaimed, shooting her a hurt look.  
"What? You're hitting me with those leathery tarpaulins of yours," she said.  
"Am not," the Doctor muttered. Donna rolled her eyes. The Doctor rolled his shoulders as they walked, looking back at his folded wings. He watched as his wings folded down, sinking into his skin and disappearing.  
"Okay, that's weird," Donna said. "You said earlier you'd explain more once we were free," she added. The Doctor nodded.  
"Yeah I did," he agreed. "Alright. Well, the wings are called a manifest- it's a construct that the Council grants to the upper echelons of society. It’s a sort of status symbol. They can be used to fly, like you saw, but considering how the Council never used to leave their chambers, they were never used practically," he explained. “At least not by most,” he added.  
"So, they're like a badge of honour rather than for practical reasons," Donna repeated.  
"Pretty much, yeah. When they disappear they go to a personal pocket dimension, which is where my clothes are," he said, ending the sentence with a smile. Where his mouth curled Donna could see the shine of jagged teeth. Yeah, she was definitely still getting used to this.  
"Did I mention I'm glad you're not naked? But you are naked right now, technically," Donna said, looking at the Doctor’s serpentine body.  
"It's.. more complicated than that," the Doctor said evenly. "We did wear clothes- mostly robes and big headdress that were really impractical- but it was never a requirement," he reasoned.  
"Alright, I think I get it. So, the human you, that's just a projection. This is actual you, and the clothes are real and the wings are fake," she summarised. The Doctor nodded in confirmation.  
"But what about the actual projection thing? Do you have a wristband with loads of buttons on it that I've never seen?" she asked.  
"No, it's all done through telepathy," he said, tapping his head with a clawed hand.  
"Right," Donna said slowly. The pair walked in silence, crossing through the abandoned streets of London. Nearly abandoned, the Doctor noticed, as there were a few people at the side of the road- some on their phones trying to contact loved ones, some groups huddled together- the ones that were still here. No one had actually looked up so far; but the Doctor wondered when their luck would change. The aftershock of an invasion had put everyone on edge. Seeing another alien wasn't going to help matters.  
"Maybe we should have taken the jeep," the Doctor said quietly.  
"I don't know if you'd fit in your current state," Donna answered reasonably. She looked around as they walked, frowning as she looked at the ruined streets. "I don't know if I'll ever get used to abandoned streets," she said. The Doctor looked around at her. “It’s like a warzone,” she added, voice distant.  
"Are you okay?" the Doctor asked sincerely.  
"I'm fine," Donna answered. She paused and looked down. "Maybe a little bit not-fine," she admitted.  
"Everyone will recover, eventually. You always do. You get stronger from the experience. It’s not the worst thing that’s ever happened to you as a species, so everyone will draw on that. It’s bad, but the Paraviau weren’t here to kill," the Doctor said. “It’ll be alright,” he said softly.

After more turns and long roads, they eventually came to their destination.  
"Wait," the Doctor said suddenly. Donna could see her house only a few doors down. From here, at least, they were no signs of forced entry. She hoped that Wilf had followed her advice. She hoped that her mother too had stayed inside. She wondered if the Paraviau had even landed at the Peak District. Also, why her mother was at the Peat District of all places. Even if it did have good spas. She shook her hand to dispel her thoughts, then turned to the Doctor.  
"What are we waiting for?" she asked.  
"Maybe you should explain to Wilf first," the Doctor said. "Just for sake of not giving him a heart attack," he added.  
"He's made of stronger stuff than that and you know it," Donna retorted. "You're stalling for time," she noted. "You're not going to run off again are you?" she asked, folding her arms across her chest. The Doctor looked around the street.  
"No," he said. "But I'm serious about warning him," he added. Donna sighed and unfolded her arms.  
"Alright, I'll tell him. Wait here and try not to scare anyone," she said, walking ahead.  
"I'm not scary," the Doctor muttered. He walked over to a patch of grass and sat down. He looked up at the house it belonged to and hoped they weren't the kind of people to peep out their windows. He really couldn't judge how they'd react- if they were the peeping type- upon finding a dragon sat on their lawn. Damn, now he saying dragon too.  
"Not a dragon," he muttered to himself. Absent-mindedly, he let his mind wander. The events of today weren’t a total disaster, as invasions went, and now his secret was out. There was no more hiding, no more suspense, no more imagined responses. There was only the truth. As his mind continued to evaluate the day, he heard a distant tapping noise. The Doctor wasn't really paying attention, but the tapping continued, getting more and more insistent. With a huff, the Doctor turned around to the source of the noise. At the window of the house whose lawn he was sat on stood a little girl, eyes wide, her fist rapping against the glass windowpane. The Doctor baulked.  
"Are you a dragon?" she mouthed. The Doctor looked around. There was no one else in the street, and he couldn't see nor sense anyone else in the house. He nodded. She gaped and suddenly leapt away from the window. She sprinted away through the house. The Doctor, curiosity piqued, waited on the grass. He presumed the child looking for the keys to the door. He considered leaving- he could bring his wings back, take off, up onto the roof, and hope she’d go back inside- but if she was alone in there, then maybe it was better to stay. She didn't seem scared. Quite the opposite, in fact. She seemed excited. He supposed that for a human child, seeing a dragon would be very exciting. It should be scary, he mused, but humanity’s desire to survive was only usurped by their desire to explore the unknown. A real life dragon was very much an unknown. He looked around the street again- still deserted- when the door finally unlocked and swung open, revealing the little girl. She stood on the doorstep, bouncing on her feet. The Doctor watched as she carefully shut the door behind her with a resounding click.

"Granddad?" Donna called as she tried to open the front door and found it stuck. It felt heavier than usual. She wondered if the hinges were getting rusty, but as she continued to push, there was the sharp squeal as something pushed against the floor. The door moved slowly, inch by inch, until she could look around. She peeked around the small opening and realised that a chest of drawers had been set against the door. She smiled. Of course he was properly prepared. Not the first invasion he'd experienced, after all. The fact the drawers were still there too meant that the Paraviau hadn't reached him. Maybe they hadn't gone into houses? Donna wasn't sure. There were awfully disorganised.  
"Donna, that you?" Wilf called from further inside the house.  
"Yeah, you alright?" Donna called back. She pushed again against the door. The chest of drawers squeaked against the floor. Another inch. This was going to take a while.  
"I'm fine," he said, voice getting closer.  
"Nice touch with the drawers," Donna said. She wondered what exactly was in these drawers to make them so heavy. "They definitely work," she added dryly. Wilf appeared at the end of the hallway and he smiled.  
"Put your back into it sweetheart," he said, stopping a metre away from Donna. She threw him a faked smile with narrowed eyes. "I could put my back out moving it," he said.  
"Oh come off it," Donna retorted. "How did you get it here in the first place then?" she added, pushing her shoulder against the door.  
"A man should not tell his secrets," Wilf recited.  
"Yeah yeah, whatever," Donna dismissed. The door made a final groan and Donna pushed herself through the gap. "”What on earth is in those drawers?" she said, shooting them a withering look in the hope that the furniture would feel bad about itself.  
"It's your mother's. I don't ask," Wilf said sagely. "So," he said, brightening up, "You've dealt with those aliens you were worried about?"  
Donna nodded.  
"Sorta, yeah," she said. "I was just checking you were okay," she added. "But also.. uh," she said, looking down.  
"Is something wrong?" he asked.  
"Not wrong," Donna said. "It's the Doctor. He's, uh," she trailed off. Okay, maybe she was beginning to understand his point of view now. Faced with actually telling someone that the man she'd been travelling with was a space dragon was a hard to thing to say. She wondered if she should come out with it or work her way to it. She wondered if it would affect Wilf's viewpoint of the Doctor. Of course it would, she thought, but she wondered just how. He trusted the Doctor too. Would he still trust him after this?  
"Donna?" Wilf said, breaking her out of her stream of consciousness. "What's wrong?" he asked.  
"You know what? The Doctor is outside, and he looks different from what we're used to. It's not a bad thing, but I think you need to know," she said in a rush.  
"What, like he's uh.. changed his face?" Wilf asked, expression clouded with concern.  
"Not like that," Donna said. "Just come and see," she said, gesturing back outside.

"Are you a dragon?" the little girl asked.  
"I'm a quadrupedal draconoid," the Doctor said. The girl blinked. "Yes, I'm a dragon," the Doctor said.  
"Oh," she said. "That's cool!" she exclaimed.  
"I suppose so," the Doctor replied.  
"Do you have lots of teeth?" the girl asked, skipping down from the doorstep and stopping at the Doctor's feet.  
"Slightly more than humans do," he said with a tilt of the head.  
"Can I see them?" she asked sweetly, little hands balled into fists.  
"Um," the Doctor said. "Why do you want to see my teeth?" he asked.  
"They must be all sharp since you’re a dragon! Or dinosaur teeth! They're sharp too," she explained impatiently. "Please, mister dragon?" she asked. Charmed, he obliged, opening his jaws to reveal a set of wickedly sharp teeth. The little girl leaned forward, murmuring to herself. Satisfied, she leant back. "They look like bear teeth!" she exclaimed. The Doctor shut his mouth.   
"Hm, that's not a bad comparison. Do you like biology?" he said, ears flicking forward.  
"Sometimes," the little girl said. "Did you see the aliens?" she asked, abruptly changing the subject. The Doctor's ears flicked back again.  
"I saw them," he said seriously. The little girl considered this, then waved the Doctor to lean in. He craned his neck and the girl cupped a hand to her mouth, speaking close to his ear.  
"Are you an alien?" she whispered. The Doctor leaned and sat on his haunches. He lifted one clawed hand and tapped at the end of his snout in the gesture for "it's a secret." He wondered how effective it was like this. Or if she could tell what he was doing. It was a hard gesture to do without a nose.  
"Don't tell anyone," he said. "And you should go back inside," he added.  
"Aw okay," the girl said, smiling widely before turning and running back inside her house. The Doctor watched and listened as the door clicked shut, then locked.

The Doctor listened as the girl walked back through the house. He smiled to himself, content, until he was suddenly startled.  
"You're a bit small for a dragon," Wilf said after observing from a distance. The Doctor all but jumped up, eyes wide. He looked at Wilf, eyes betraying his internal panic. Then he realised what had just been said.  
"Sorry, what?" he asked, baffled. Donna looked between them, expression growing to one of exuberance.  
"I mean, I thought dragons were massive creatures, bloody huge things, but you're not," Wilf reasoned. Donna laughed, pressing a hand to her ribcage as she did.   
"You're okay with that?" the Doctor asked hesitantly.  
"Well, you're still you, right?" Wilf said. "I can see it in your eyes. Same man. Alien. Dragon. Uh, Sir," he said, the sentence seemingly getting away from him. The Doctor smiled.  
"I'm glad you think so," he said. Donna's laughter died down, though she had trouble as more laughter bubbled in her throat.  
"I think you might have trouble with this door too," she said, biting her lip. The Doctor suddenly frowned, looking at her despairingly.  
"I'll move the drawers," Wilf said, walking back to the house.  
"Oh well now you'll move them!" Donna called after him. The pair watched Wilf go. "I should have known he wouldn't be bothered," Donna mused.  
"You never know for certain how someone will react," the Doctor said.  
"That's true," Donna agreed. She shot a glance at him. "You were talking to that little girl?" she asked.  
"Yeah," the Doctor said. "She said I had bear teeth," he said thoughtfully.  
"You do?" Donna asked. "Wait, I don't want to see them. I'll take your word for it," she said, looking slightly disturbed. The Doctor grinned and snorted with laughter.  
"I don't bite," he said with sincerity.  
"Oh shut up," Donna said.  
"No really," the Doctor said. "Just as likely to bite as I am with the projection up," he said warmly.  
"Still not entirely reassuring," Donna said. The Doctor blinked several times.  
"I don't bite things.." he said slowly.  
"No, but you do lick things a lot to see what they are," Donna said. "It wouldn't be a massive jump," she added.  
"That's to check the properties of a substance quickly," the Doctor said.  
"Can't you do that with the sonic screwdriver?" Donna asked, raising her eyebrows at him.  
"Well, sometimes," the Doctor said quietly. "It's quicker," he insisted.   
Wilf reappeared the doorway.  
"You better come in through the garden doors!" he yelled. Donna nodded and waved.  
"I still need to change the dimensions on the TARDIS doors," the Doctor mused. "I'll call Jack and have him bring her here," he said to himself as he and Donna walked down the road.  
"I could fly her here," Donna offered.  
"You'd have to drive back to UNIT," the Doctor said. Donna shrugged. "You sure?" the Doctor asked. "I'm sure Jack would be willing to," he added.  
"No no, it's fine. You and Granddad can chat whilst I get the TARDIS," she said. The Doctor hummed. “Plus, more experience with flying,” she said, catching the Doctor’s eye. He nodded.  
"Yeah, alright," he concluded. Arriving at the house, Donna fished for the car keys in her pocket. The Doctor looked down the alleyway that led to the garden.  
"See you in a bit," Donna said, unlocking the car door and getting in. The Doctor nodded and gave her a thumbs up. She gave him a thumbs up back and started the car.

By the time Donna got back, the Doctor had seated himself next to the sofa and was mid conversation. A mug of tea sat next to him. His tail swished as he talked- he was animated, waving a clawed hand as he spoke. Donna watched from the hallway, having left the TARDIS next to the door. Flying her was difficult, and Donna thought perhaps always would be. She lacked the instinct that Time Lords had. Still, she’d flown her without any real difficulties, and she hadn’t crashed; Donna considered this a success. Back in the living room, the TV was on; the news recalling how the Secretary of State had denied all accusations of expenses fraud. Donna shook her head. UNIT wasn't as chaotic as she'd expected it to be. There were more staff there than when they had left. Due to the low casualty number, there was less panic than there had been for previous invasions. Their main objective now was clean-up. Clean-up being calming down hysteria and if possible, masking the truth. Which, Donna noted, was incredibly ironic given what had just happened. The Doctor noticed her presence now, and smiled widely, gesturing for her to join them. As she walked round to the living room, she noticed a mug of tea on the side.  
"That one's for you," Wilf said.  
"Thanks," Donna said, taking the cup. It was still blessedly hot. She walked around and sat down next to Wilf on the sofa. He was listening intently to whatever the Doctor had been saying.  
"-So, there won't really be an issue. They won't check on the Earth properly. They'll show up for a promise at face value then leave," he said.  
"We're safe from this happening again then?" Wilf asked. The Doctor nodded.  
"Yup, this was a one off. Guaranteed," he reassured. Donna sipped at her tea. The Doctor continued to talk, but Donna zoned out. It had been quite a long day. Not length wise, but a lot of things had happened all at once. Donna found that she was immensely glad to finally be sat down with a nice cup of tea. She closed her eyes and smiled to herself. Eventually, she noticed that the Doctor had grown quiet. She opened her eyes and found Wilf looking at her with a gentle smile. She tried to cover her embarrassment.  
"Tired?" Wilf asked.  
"I wasn't asleep," Donna protested.  
"Anyway, we best be off," the Doctor said, getting up. "I think I can get the projection back up now," he said. "I just have to concentrate," he said, scrunching his eyes shut. "Juuuuuust like this!" he said, and there was a shift like before. Donna was considerably less horrified this time now she knew what was going on.  
"Huh," Wilf said.. After seeing him as a dragon, Donna found it odd to see him looking humanoid again.  
"Alright, gotta calibrate the entrance dimensions, then find out what the Paraviau did and how," the Doctor said brightly. "Or maybe work out what they did first? That could take a while. No, dimensions first," he rambled to himself as he left to go back to the TARDIS. "Nice to see you Wilf!" he called.  
"You too, Doctor!" Wilf called. "So, you'll be going now," he said to Donna.  
"Yeah," Donna said with a smile.  
"Maybe you should get some rest though," he said. "I hope there are beds in that thing," he added.  
"There are. Getting to them can be a pain, it's like a maze," Donna said. The pair hugged. "I'll be back soon," Donna said.  
"Don't worry about me. Go out there and have fun," Wilf said. Donna smiled and walked out, through the hallway and into the TARDIS.

Inside the TARDIS, the Doctor ran around frantically, messing with dials and buttons seemingly at random. He grabbed the TARDIS display screen and twisted the dial he was currently using. Gallifreyan symbols flared and shifted on the screen. The TARDIS didn't translate Gallifreyan; she thought she shouldn't need to, but if Donna squinted at the symbols she could almost understand them. The knowledge was just out of reach. Messing with the locks on her memory was a bad idea, but it was frustrating to be on the edge of knowledge, reaching out but not quite grasping it.  
"There!" the Doctor proclaimed, hands on his hips. "Let's just test it out," he said, shooting Donna a wild grin before running back out of the TARDIS. Donna watched him go, looked at the screen again, then followed him out.  
"It looks the same," she said. The size of the doors hadn't changed, at least not enough that Donna could tell. She looked back at the Doctor- who was in his natural form again- and looked at him dubiously. Wilf was right that he wasn't massive, but he was large enough to be unwieldy in tight spaces. Donna watched as the Doctor successfully walked through the open doors.  
"Huh," she said. The Doctor spun back round to look at her, but didn't have the triumphant expression she expected.  
"That was.. fine," he said. "I don't.. I don't think I needed to actually change the dimensions," he said.  
"I've never seen it with both the doors open," Donna admitted. "I thought one of them was jammed," she added.  
"What? No. Why did you think that?" the Doctor asked.  
"Well, you only ever use one door," Donna said. "If I'd known that both open then we could have just gone," she added, looking the Doctor in the eye. He met her stare. He looked way first, to the floor, then up to the sky. He groaned in frustration.  
"You forgot too didn't you?" Donna accused. The Doctor looked at her. "You did!" she said with delight. The Doctor slunk back to the TARDIS console. Donna stepped back in and shut the doors behind her. "You complete plum," she laughed. "You're an idiot. A big space dragon idiot," she continued, walking towards the console, amusement glittering in her eyes.  
"Okay, yeah," the Doctor sighed. "But enough of that!" he said, voice suddenly rising. Donna watched as he paced around the console, claws clicking against the metal floor. "Where do you want to go next?" he said brightly.  
“Weren’t you going to check how the Paraviau did this?” Donna asked. The Doctor waved dismissively.  
“Later,” he said.  
"We're going to go out like this?" Donna asked, gesturing at the Doctor’s serpentine form.  
"That's the plan," the Doctor confirmed. "You're okay with that?" he asked.  
"Yeah, I just wondered if you'd be," Donna said.  
"I've got to get used to it again. I think this would be the best way," the Doctor said, finishing his lap around the console and coming to stop in front of Donna.  
"I agree," Donna said, smiling wryly. "Alright then spaceman, let's do this," she said. The Doctor grinned, tail flicking to and fro as he turned to the console.  
"Let's do this," he agreed, and reached out for the nearest lever.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're reading this, then THANK YOU!  
> I've been thinking of making this into a series, so keep an eye out for more adventures with Dragon!Ten and Donna.


End file.
